Can You Guess These States by Their Shapes?
Written by Beth Sederstrom
Last updated · 6 min play time
See if you can identify these states simply by looking at their shapes.
Quiz written by
Beth SederstromBeth Sederstrom is a writer and editor from Indiana. You might recognize her from her 1990 appearance Nickelodeon's Outta Here. But probably not.
States by Shape Quiz Questions
30 Questions · 100.3K Plays · 22 Comments
Question 1
Which state is shaped like this?
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AFlorida
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BHawaii
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COklahoma
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DMaryland
Florida
Florida has more golf courses than any other state in America. Fittingly, it's also home to the World Golf Hall of Fame, located in St. Augustine.
Question 2
Which state is shaped like this?
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ALouisiana
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BTexas
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CHawaii
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DMaine
Hawaii
Aside from those kept in zoos, snakes are illegal in Hawaii.
Question 3
Which state is shaped like this?
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AMaryland
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BOklahoma
-
CAlaska
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DWashington
Alaska
In Alaska, shooting a bear is legal. Waking one up to take its picture is not.
Question 4
Which state is this, dude?
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AHawaii
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BNew Mexico
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CNorth Carolina
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DCalifornia
California
You've probably learned all about the California Gold Rush, which kicked off in 1848 (and helped name San Francisco's pro football team). You probably didn't know that this was followed by a short-lived Silver Rush from 1881 to 1896 in the Calico Mountains that promptly turned the town of Calico into a ghost town.
Question 5
Which state is shaped like this?
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AWashington
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BUtah
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CNew Mexico
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DArizona
Washington
Washington is home to Mount Rainier, the highest mountain of the Cascade Range.
Question 6
Which state is shaped like this?
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ALouisana
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BNebraska
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CIowa
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DDelaware
Delaware
Delaware, the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, has only three counties: Sussex, Kent, and New Castle.
Question 7
Which state's shape looks like this?
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AMinnesota
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BPennsylvania
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CMichigan
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DWisconsin
Michigan
When Michigan was still a territory, it almost went to war with Ohio over the Toledo terminus of the Maumee River. Ultimately, Congress stepped in and forced Michigan to let Ohio have Toledo if Michigan wanted to become a state. (Spoiler alert: It did.)
Question 8
What state is shaped like this?
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ANew York
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BVirginia
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CNorth Carolina
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DPennsylvania
New York
After the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, New York City became the first temporary capital of the United States. Congress would later meet in Philadelphia before settling in Washington, D.C., after the completion of the U.S. Capitol Building.
Question 9
Which state in the Pacific Northwest is shaped like this?
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AOregon
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BWyoming
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CUtah
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DColorado
Oregon
Oregon is home to the deepest lake in the United States, Crater Lake, which is roughly 2,000 feet deep. It formed when a volcano buckled almost 8,000 years ago.
Question 10
Which state has this interesting shape?
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ANew Mexico
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BUtah
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CIdaho
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DMississippi
Idaho
Idaho's State Capitol Building in Boise is kept warm in winter by hot springs 3,000 feet beneath it. Needless to say, it's the only United States capitol building heated by geothermal energy.
Question 11
Which state is shaped like this?
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AArizona
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BSouth Carolina
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CIowa
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DMaine
Maine
Lobsters are so important to Maine that the University of Maine founded the Lobster Institute in 1987 to further the study of these delicious sea creatures and their sustainability.
Question 12
Which state's shape looks like this?
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AWest Virgina
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BIowa
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CVermont
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DNew Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey begrudgingly shares the Statue of Liberty with New York. It's on New York land, but its surrounded by New Jersey water. Both answers are acceptable on the official United States citizenship exam.
Question 13
Which state's shape looks like this?
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AIowa
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BIllinois
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CMissouri
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DIndiana
Illinois
In 1885, Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery.
Question 14
Which Midwestern state looks like this?
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AIndiana
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BWisconsin
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CIowa
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DMissouri
Indiana
The town of Santa Claus, Indiana, is home to an array of Christmas-themed attractions, including the Holiday World theme park. For more than a century, the town's post office has received letters from children to Santa; each is answered by a team of volunteers called Santa's Elves.
Question 15
Which state is shaped like this?
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AOhio
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BIowa
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CMissouri
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DTexas
Ohio
Maybe there's something in the water: Seven United States presidents and 25 astronauts were from Ohio.
Question 16
Which state is shaped like this?
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AKansas
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BNorth Carolina
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CSouth Carolina
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DTexas
South Carolina
Up until 2004, tattoo parlors were illegal in South Carolina. Anyone in need of some ink had to drive to North Carolina or Georgia to get that rad tattoo of a shark biting a volleyball on his or her calf.
Question 17
Which state is shaped like this?
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ASouth Carolina
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BNebraska
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CMaryland
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DNew York
Maryland
The NFL's Baltimore Ravens were named in tribute to Edgar Allan Poe. While his literary career caused him to move to several cities, he always came back to Baltimore and is buried there.
Question 18
Which state has this unique shape?
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AWest Virginia
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BArkansas
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CKentucky
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DVirginia
West Virginia
Cecil Underwood is West Virginia's oldest and youngest governor. He was first elected in 1956 at the age of 34, but he couldn't run again due to term limit laws. Forty years later, at the age of 74, voters gave him a second term.
Question 19
Which state is shaped like this?
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APennsylvania
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BMaryland
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CMassachusetts
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DVirginia
Massachusetts
Massachusetts is home to the country's oldest public park, Boston Common. The people of Boston bought it in 1634 for £30.
Question 20
Which rugged state is shaped like this?
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AWyoming
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BNebraska
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CSouth Dakota
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DMontana
Montana
Montana has the largest grizzly bear population in the contiguous United States, with over 500 in Northwestern Montana, and another 600 at Yellowstone.
Question 21
What state's shape looks like this?
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AMinnesota
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BWisconsin
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CLouisiana
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DKansas
Minnesota
Famous Minnesotans include Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charles Lindbergh, Judy Garland, Bob Dylan, Charles Schulz, and, of course, Prince.
Question 22
Which state's shape looks like this?
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ADelaware
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BConnecticut
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CMissouri
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DTennessee
Connecticut
Connecticut was home to the country's first speed limit laws. In 1901, motorists were prohibited from driving faster than 12 miles per hour.
Question 23
What state is shaped like this?
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AWyoming
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BNevada
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CNebraska
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DPennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Founder William Penn originally wanted the state to be named Sylvania, which is Latin for "woods." When King Charles II named it Pennsylvania after Penn's dad, Penn worried that people would think he and his massive ego named the state after himself.
Question 24
Which southern state's shape looks like this?
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AMississippi
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BAlabama
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CGeorgia
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DLouisiana
Georgia
Georgia was the first state to lower the legal voting age from 21 to 18. It made the change in 1945.
Question 25
Which state has this shape?
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AOhio
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BTennessee
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CVirginia
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DKentucky
Kentucky
More than half of the soldiers who perished in the War of 1812 were from Kentucky, despite the fact that precisely zero of the war's battles were fought there.
Question 26
Which state has this simple shape?
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AAlabama
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BNebraska
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CWyoming
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DColorado
Colorado
Colorado is home to Mesa Verde National Park, an immense archaeological site composed of over 4,000 protected areas that date back as far as 600 CE.
Question 27
What state's shape looks like this?
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AMissouri
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BArizona
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CAlabama
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DArkansas
Arkansas
In accordance with a legal code created in 1947, it's illegal in Arkansas to mispronounce "Arkansas."
Question 28
Which large state looks like this?
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AKansas
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BSouth Dakota
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CWyoming
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DNebraska
South Dakota
While Belle Fourche, South Dakota, claims to be the geographic center of North America and even marked the spot with a giant statue of a compass, the real geographic center is 20 miles north and designated with a fence post.
Question 29
Which New England state is shaped like this?
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AVermont
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BDelaware
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CMaine
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DNew Hampshire
New Hampshire
The first alarm clock was invented in New Hampshire by Concord's Levi Hutchins. It still had a few kinks to be worked out; namely that the alarm time could never be changed once it was initially set.
Question 30
Which state is shaped like this?
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AKansas
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BWyoming
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CNorth Dakota
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DNew Mexico
North Dakota
North Dakota is the 39th state — or maybe it's the 40th. North and South Dakota were admitted to the union at the same time, and sitting president Benjamin Harrison intentionally mixed up their paperwork and signed them blindly so that no one would ever know which Dakota actually became a state first.
Comments (22)
We want to hear your feedback! Share your scores and discuss the quiz, but keep it civil.
Ads freeking suck
Coul NOT see entire shapes of states, covered partially by ads, 🙄
Doesn't really work on a smart phone shows only a portion of the state.
These are the most random pictures for states, at least have a little consistency.
Could not see all of the shapes of the states, so how are we supposed to answer the questions correctly? ?
Some shapes are way off.
Pictures don/t show the entire state. Many cropped and not the correct shape. Quit after 25.
Uh I got 30/30 and all pictures came up for me.
Question 23 also has no shape shown? This is the worst quiz that I have seen yet.
Question #22 has no shape either. How are we supposed to figure out the answer?
Some of the shapes of the states are not the correct shape. Question 19 doesn't show any shape at all!
stuck at question 19
@Cookie323 Mid-Western... So is Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois...and a couple other states... And it's spelled "Indiana".
@Tailow Ohio is also considered the Mid-West... so is Kentucky and Illinois...
Half of the pictures weren't there... You can't answer correctly if the picture is not there... So, how did you get them all correct when some of the questions were had nothing to answer??? You must be a good guesser......
How tf is Indiana Mid-West
Yes, hard to do when picture doesn't come up. Also, some of them WERE incorrect to begin with, then "jiggled" and changed to something else. Many were cropped, as well. Worse I've ever tried.
Hard to complete this test if you can't see the shape. Had to use up my lifelines when the page came up blank, and was guessing after that...
no pic on #19
Really bad quiz, bad pictures. Apparently Indianna is western.